Coal use has hit a ten-year high this year as the global energy crisis and surging natural gas prices forced governments to look for alternative sources of fuel, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) released on Friday.

It is expected that global coal consumption in 2022 will rise 1.2% and exceed 8 billion tons per year for the first time ever, eclipsing the previous record in 2013. It is forecasted that coal used for electricity generation will rise by 2% this year.

Industrial coal consumption however is expected to decrease by over 1% in 2022 due to the economic downturn producing a slump in iron and steel production.

The report also noted that due to the global energy crisis produced by shrinking gas supplies from Russia to the EU, coal prices spikes to record levels in March and then June.

For the second year in a row, consumption of coal in Europe will increase, as many EU countries have opened their shuttered coal-fired power plants, ignoring previous environmental concerns, due to the threat of spending a winter without electricity and heat.

The IEA predicts that Asian emerging and developing economies, including China and India, the world’s largest coal consumers, will boost their consumption even higher next year.

The agency concluded, “This means coal will continue to be the global energy system’s largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions by far.”

The report also concluded that coal consumption will likely remain elevated through 2025, if an energy transition to renewables is not accelerated.